Office



H. w. ROMANOFF. VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 151.1918.

Patented June 10, 1919.

2 SHEETS-'SHEET 1.

H. W.. ROMANOFF.

VEHICLE.

APPLICATION' HLED 1AN.15.1918.

Patented June 10, 1919.

LSUG.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

By Qing/5MM f-/.....

Arron/vnf.

' To all whom t may concern HIPPOLYTE W.- ROMAN()IFF,l OF NEW YORK, N'.Y.

VEHICLE.

- Application leil January 715, 1918. Serial No..2I1,946.

Be it known that I, HIrroLYTE W. Ro- MANOFF, a citizen of Russia,residing at Biltmore Hotel, New lYork citv, in the county of New York,State ofrNew York, have invented certain new and'useful Improvements inVehicles; and I do'hereby declare the following to-bea full, clear, and

exact -description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to'provide a doubled set of wheels formultiple-wheel vehicles. vThe essential features of myarrangementchiefly consist in the methodof suspending elastically the vehicle bodyor`v frame on wheels, which is realized by means -of a series of helicalsprings and of a parallelogram system enabling the wheels 'of the sameone pair to be displaced at different heights according to theunevenness of the transverse profile of theroad, with preservf ance of aconstant parallelism between these Wheels. Owing to the symmetricalarrangement of the parallelogram in respect to the plane in which the'body is supported, the

shock, acting Vupon one of the wheels of the as the llnks 3 remainalways vertical at the shifting of thelinks 4f and the travel of thepair, is assumed by the other wheel, serving then here as a bearing forthe absorption of the shock, and transmitted to the vehicle .bodythrough the springs with a 'two times weakened force.

1n the annexed drawing, Figure 1 represents aside view of the doubledset of operation of two sets of wheels of the vehicle; Fig. 5 is adiagram illustrating the positions assumed by the wheels when run` ningon a road with uneven longitudinal profile; Fig. 6 is a similar view,showing the shifting of the coupled wheels produced v*by unefenness ofthe transverse profile of the roa The'short axles 1 of the coupledwheels 2 are integral 'with or rigidly secured lto the vertical links 3,forming the twok sides of a parallelogram, the two other sides 4i ofwhich are pivoted on the journals of the .square sectional' lugs 5formed by the plates l 6. These latter can loosely slide on the verticalrod 7 of the same section, having inside the parallelogram a boss 8, theshape of which inA plan corresponds to that of the plates 6.V

Specification ot Ietters Patent'.

f Patented .nine 1Q, '1919;

. Between this bossv and boththe, platesGil' i' thehelical springs9.are'located,l there being. four of them in the construction,represented- 1n the drawing by Vway of eXarnple.- The rods 7 of the twowheel pairs ofl thes'ame onefside of the set of lwheels. arerigidl'yA---fas-fv tened to the horizontal lbar 10, to which the vehiclebody is pivotally secured, for instance on the link 11'.

F or turning the two pairs of .coupledv wheels 2 together, 'the`following arrangement is provided: Nearly in lthe central Y Y plane ofthe vehicle there vis a longitudinal shaft 12 on which lare fixed thearms 13 which are connected by the'rod 14, provided at'the ends withuniversal or ball'Joints, to the horizontally movable bar 15,articulatedat the ends by similar joints with' the arm 16Zi rigidly secured to thelower ends of the ro s v When running on aroad with'an unevenlongitudinal profile theset ofwheels turn as'l a Whole on the joints 17(Fig. 5).. When running on an uneven transverse profile each` of the twocoupled wheels can change its vertical position relatively to eachother,-

both wheels preserving a vertical position plates 5, 6 on the verticalrods 7 V( Fig. 6). In all cases the shocks are absorbed by the heli--cal springs 9. It is also obvious that when the shock is acting forinstance upon the outer Wheel, the inner wheel. coupled with.

it serves asa bearing for receiving this shock. which, owing to thegivenmethod of suspension of the body to the parallelo'- gram isVtransmitted to such body ldoubly weakened.l

The steering of the vehicle is'performed 'by turning .the longitudinalshaft 12, which,

lows the vehicle to inscribe itself. into curves of a verysmall radius.

Claims: 1. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in.pairs on each side of the vehicle, the wheels of each pair being so.connected to eachother that .both Wheels will remain sulostar'itiall'yvertical when on an inclined surface, and the pairs-of Wheels wev oneach Vside of the vehicle being connected together in pairs;substantially as described.

2. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs oneach side of the vehicle, the wheels of each pair being so connected toeachother that both wheels will remain substantially vertical when on aninclined surface, and connections between the corresponding pairs ofwheels on opposite sides of the vehicle whereby they may be turned inunison to alter the course of the vehicle. A

3. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arrangedin pairs oneach side of the vehicle, the wheels of each pair being so connected toeach other that both wheels will remain substantially vertical when onan inclmed surface, and the pairs of wheels ony cach side of the vehiclebeing connected-together in pairs, and a vehicle support between theconnected pairs at each end of the vehicle.

4. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs oneach side of the vehicle, a member to which the axle of each wheel ofy apair is connected, a supporting member associated with each pair ofwheels,

members slidably mounted on the support-l ing member, members pivoted tosaid slidable member and to the members to which the axles areconnected, and spring connections between said supporting member and theslidable members mounted thereon.

5. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs oneach side of the vehicle, a member to which the axle of each wheel of apair is connected, a supporting member associated with each pair ofwheels, members slidably mounted on the supporting member, memberspivoted to said slidable member and to the members towhich the axles`are connected, spring connections between said supporting member andthe slidable members mounted thereon, and connections between thesupporting members of corresponding pairs of wheels on opposite sides ofthe vehicle, whereby the corresponding pairs of wheels may be turned inunison4 to alter the course of the vehicle.

6. A. Vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs oneach side of the v vehicle, a member to which the axle of each wheel ofa pair 1s connected, a supporting member associated with each pair ofwheels, members slidably mounted on the supporting member,`memberspivoted to said slidable member and tothe members to which the axles areconnected, spring connections between. said supporting member and theslidable members mounted thereon, connections between the supportingmembers of two pairs of wheels on each side of the vehicle,

and a vehicle support, pivoted tonsaid con-` which the axles of thewheels of each pair are connected, a substantially vertical supportingmember, between the other vertical members of each pair and providedwith an extended portion, a. .pair of slidable members on the supportingmember, springs between each of the slidable members and the extendedvportion of the supporting member, and transverse members pivoted to theslidable members and to the ends of the vertical members. f I I 8. Avehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs on eachside of the vehicle, substantially vertical members to which the axlesof the wheels of each pair are connected, a substantially vertical supiporting member, between the other vertical members of each pair andprovided with an extended portion, a pair of slidable members on thesupporting member, springs-between each of the slidablemembers and theextended portion of the supporting member, transverse members pivoted tothe slidable lmembers and to the ends of the vertical members,connections between the lower ends of the `vertical 'supporting membersofcorresponding pairs of wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle, andhorizontal supporting members connecting in pairs the upper ends pf thepairs of wheels on each side of the veiicle.

9. A vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels arranged in pairs oneach side of the vehicle, substantially vertical members to which theaxles of the wheels ofeach pair are connected, a. substantially verticalsup.- porting member between the other vertical members of each pair andprovided with an extended portion, a pair of slidable members on thesupporting member, springs between leach of the slidable members and theextended portion of the supporting member, transverse members pivoted tothe slidable members and ,to the ends of 'the vertical members,connections between the lower ends of the vertical supporting members ofcorresponding pairs of Wheels on oppositel sides of the vehicle,horizontal supporting 'members connecting in pairs the upper ends ofthehpairs of wheels on each side of the ve,- hicle, and Vehiclesupporting members oh each side of. the vehicle, each of said membersbeing plvoted -at its ends to the horizon,- tal supportmg membersonthesame side of the vehicle. In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

- HIPPOLYTE W. ROMANOFF.

